Preview: Mission Viejo Diablos vs. De La Salle Spartans
The Mission Viejo Diablos will take on the De La Salle Spartans at 8:00 p.m. on Friday. Each of these teams will be fighting to keep a win streak alive as Mission Viejo comes in on seven and De La Salle on 11.
It can be hard to translate regular season success to the playoffs, but Mission Viejo had no problem doing just that on Friday. They really took it to the Eagles for the full four quarters, racking up a 49-21 win at home. The result was nothing new for Mission Viejo, who have now won nine contests by 24 points or more so far this season.
Mission Viejo found their leader in underclassman Luke Fahey, who threw for 208 yards and two touchdowns, and also punched in a touchdown on the ground. Hinesward. Lilomaiava. also deserves a shout-out for his two touchdowns.
Meanwhile, De La Salle and Clovis North (ranked 50 and 73 in the MaxPreps national rankings respectively) squared off in a high-profile matchup. De La Salle didn't even let Clovis North onto the board and left with a 41-0 win on Friday. De La Salle's win was all the more impressive since Clovis North was averaging only 14 points allowed on the season.
De La Salle can attribute much of their success to Derrick Blanche, who rushed for 146 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 7.7 yards per carry. The team also got some help courtesy of Jaden Jefferson, who rushed for 80 yards and a touchdown.
Mission Viejo has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won eight of their last nine matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 12-3 record this season. As for De La Salle, their win was their seventh straight at home, which pushed their record up to 11-2.
Here's a few offensive stats to keep an eye on ahead of Friday's matchup: Mission Viejo has been excellent on the ground this season, having averaged 182.6 rushing yards per game. However, it's not like De La Salle struggles in that department as they've been even better at 240.8 per game. It's looking like Friday's contest might have some serious battles in the trenches. Check MaxPreps after the match for a full breakdown of the game, commentary, and other football content.
